Guides for Musicals, Plays, Operas & Operettas

The Spanish gypsy Carmen lives only for sensuality and manages to seduce the naïve sergeant Don José with her wiles. His love for Carmen leads him to attack his superior officer, desert his military duties and abandon his childhood sweetheart. He then joins Carmen and her band of smugglers. Unf...
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A group of friends are living a bohemian life in Paris and trying to make their livings creating art. Rodolfo, the writer, falls in love with the seamstress, Mimi, while Marcello, the painter, and Musetta, the singer, are the on-and-off-again couple by their sides. When the four are happy, they...
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A tragic tale of forbidden love, Aida follows the struggle of the Ethiopian princess, Aida, and the young Egyptian warrior, Radamès, to decide between love or loyalty to their countries. Aida has been captured by the Egyptians, who do not know her true identity, and is being held as a slave. She...
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A hilarious farce, Così fan tutte revolved around a bet made among three men; Don Alfonso, the older and more cynical of the bunch, bets Ferrando and Guglielmo that he can prove that their girlfriends, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, are unfaithful like all women. Don Alfonso, with the help of Despina,...
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Based on the famous play by Shakespeare, Verdi’s Otello follows the story of the happy couple, Otello, the governor of Cyprus and Venetian general, and Desdemona as they are dragged through an evil plot constructed by Iago. Iago is the slighted ensign of Otello, who has been passed over for a pro...
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Written in 1954, The Turn of the Screw is the last of Benjamin Britten’s chamber operas, based on the gothic horror novella of the same title. A sheltered young governess is sent to care for two children in a country house called Bly. At first, her new post seems perfect--the children, Miles an...
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Deeply in debt to Omar, a moneylender, Abu Hassan and his wife come up with a scheme to fake their deaths in order to extract funeral money from the Caliph. Meanwhile, Omar tries to woo Hassan’s wife, Fatime, in exchange for canceling the debts. She gives him a noncommittal answer to evade his ad...
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The opera begins in the early morning following a battle in Thebes between the armies of the two sons of Oedipus: Eteocles and Polynices. King Creon, who ascended the throne of Thebes after both brothers are killed in battle, decrees that Polynices is not to be buried. Antigone, his sister, defie...
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Inspired by the fairy tale, Cendrillon, Cenerentola follows the story of a young woman who is forced to act as a servant to her mean stepfather and ungrateful stepsisters. Prince Ramiro is going house to house to find the most beautiful woman for his wife. Prince Ramiro disguises himself as his v...
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The famous tale of Don Giovanni centers around the womanizing libertine and his conquests. Don Giovanni sneaks into Il Commendatore’s house, with his side kick, Leporello, standing guard and attempts to rape or seduce his daughter, Donna Anna. Upon fleeing, after Donna Anna screams, Don Giovanni...
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